£5m sports facilities plan unveiled in Alderney

Tuesday 05 April 2022

Proposals have been published for an ambitious £5million scheme to develop community sports facilities in the grounds of St Anne's School in Alderney.

A new sports complex - located in the lower portion of the school grounds towards the railway line - would include a 25-metre outdoor swimming pool, an eight-metre indoor training pool and a sports hall.

The proposals are being put forward by the Alderney Sports Foundation, a charity which works to improve sporting opportunities in Alderney. 

Those backing the plans include the Guernsey Sports Commission, the Headteacher of St Anne's School, former Olympic gold medal swimmer Duncan Goodhew, who has strong links with Alderney, and fund manager and Alderney homeowner Simon Brazier, who chairs the Foundation. 

Pictured: The ambitious plans include two swimming pools and a sports hall and would provide facilities far superior to anything currently available to schoolchildren and the wider community in Alderney.

The States of Alderney welcomed the proposals this morning, calling them "forward thinking".

"It’s likely that it would take two to three years to complete the facilities, although it may be possible to advance some parts of the project over a shorter timeframe," said Bill Abel, Chairman of the States' Policy & Finance Committee.

The States of Alderney said it would now appoint a specialist project manager to draw up a detailed investment proposal, which will include "liaising with States of Guernsey committees, as needed, to determine funding requirements and sourcing".

Pictured: Alderney's most-senior politician, Bill Abel, has welcomed the proposals today.

"Over the last year, the Foundation has carried out a feasibility study as to the best option to take forward to meet the sporting and active leisure needs of our young people, the school and the community," said the States of Alderney.

"[They] concluded the current provision of sports facilities in Alderney for young people is wholly inadequate and every child should have access to a swimming pool and indoor sports facilities as a basic public good.

"[They said] a new sports hall and swimming pools should be community assets with use shared between the school and the community to provide significant social, health, educational and economic benefits. 

"[Their] proposal is for a co-located sports complex in the lower portion of the school grounds with access from the Braye Common side for the community as well as from the upper side adjacent to the school entrance."

The States thanked several people from Alderney and Guernsey who have worked on the proposals.

Pictured: The plans have the backing of Martin Winward, Headteacher of St Anne's School, and Jeremy Frith, Performance Director of the Guernsey Sports Commission. 

They also thanked the Alderney Community and Sports Centre Charitable Trust, a different body which was leading a project to construct an indoor swimming pool on the upper part of the school grounds until it had to be put on hold around five years ago because of concerns about the structural integrity of the incomplete pool. 

The new project unveiled today would incorporate the incomplete pool building and repurpose it for school and/or community use.

Mr Abel said: “The Charitable Trust’s Kerry Wedd and Barrie Pimm-Smith and many others are to be thanked for their hard work and perseverance over many years in seeking to provide Alderney with an indoor pool.

"But now we have a new proposal from the Foundation which includes the possible repurposing of the pool building as part of the project."